diff -u b/core/includes/config.inc b/core/includes/config.inc
--- b/core/includes/config.inc
+++ b/core/includes/config.inc
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 }
 
 /**
- * Moves the default config supplied by a module to the active store.
+ * Moves the default config supplied by a module to the live config directory.
  *
  * @param
  *   The name of the module we are installing.
@@ -47,10 +47,10 @@
       // needs to be the same as the file name WITHOUT the extension.
       $config_name = basename($file, '.' . FileStorage::getFileExtension());
 
-      $storage = new DatabaseStorage($config_name);
-      $filestorage = new FileStorage($config_name);
-      $filestorage->setPath($module_config_dir);
-      $storage->write($filestorage->read());
+      $database_storage = new DatabaseStorage($config_name);
+      $file_storage = new FileStorage($config_name);
+      $file_storage->setPath($module_config_dir);
+      $database_storage->write($file_storage->read());
     }
   }
 }
diff -u b/core/modules/system/tests/modules/config_upgrade/config/config.test.yml b/core/modules/system/tests/modules/config_upgrade/config/config.test.yml
--- b/core/modules/system/tests/modules/config_upgrade/config/config.test.yml
+++ b/core/modules/system/tests/modules/config_upgrade/config/config.test.yml
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-config_test_foo: 'bar'
-config_test_bar: 'foo'
+config_test_foo: bar
+config_test_bar: foo